Contrast that with division champs like the Brewers -- who spent $1.13 million per win -- and the Braves, who came in at $1.45 million.
The last place Marlins paid as much per win as the first-place Braves, but that's a bit misleading. According to spotrac.com (which I use because he keeps updating its payroll throughout the year), the Marlins spent a mere $43 million on players on their 25-man roster -- out of a total payroll of $91 million. The rest of that money? $16.5 million to injured players -- most of that going to Prado. A stunning $34.5 million was paid by the Marlins to players on other teams or out of baseball (led by Edison Volquez $13 million).
For those interested in the team by team measures, it's attached as a spreadsheet. You'll see that Cleveland, Colorado and Houston all made the playoffs while spending less than the MLB average of $1.7 million per win.
Payroll | Wins | $Million / Win | ||
Tampa Bay | 68.4 | 90 | 0.76 | 1 |
Oakland | 80.3 | 97 | 0.8272 | 2 |
Pittsburgh | 90.8 | 82 | 1.10731707317073 | 3 |
Milwaukee | 108.9 | 96 | 1.134375 | 4 |
Chicago WS | 71.8 | 62 | 1.15806451612903 | 5 |
Philadelphia | 104.3 | 80 | 1.30375 | 6 |
Atlanta | 130.5 | 90 | 1.45 | 7 |
Miami Marlins | 91.8 | 63 | 1.45714285714286 | 8 |
Minnesota | 115.5 | 78 | 1.48076923076923 | 9 |
Cincinnati | 100.3 | 67 | 1.49701492537313 | 10 |
San Diego | 99.8 | 66 | 1.51212121212121 | 11 |
Cleveland | 142.8 | 91 | 1.56923076923077 | 12 |
Colorado | 144 | 91 | 1.58241758241758 | 13 |
Houston | 163.5 | 103 | 1.5873786407767 | 14 |
League average | 139 | 81 | 1.71604938271605 | |
Arizona | 141.7 | 82 | 1.7280487804878 | 15 |
NY Yankees | 179.6 | 100 | 1.796 | 16 |
Seattle | 160.9 | 89 | 1.80786516853933 | 17 |
St. Louis | 163.8 | 88 | 1.86136363636364 | 18 |
NY Mets | 150.2 | 77 | 1.95064935064935 | 19 |
Detroit | 130.9 | 64 | 2.0453125 | 20 |
Chicago Cubs | 194.3 | 95 | 2.04526315789474 | 21 |
Toronto | 150.9 | 73 | 2.06712328767123 | 22 |
Texas Rangers | 139.8 | 67 | 2.0865671641791 | 23 |
Boston | 228.5 | 108 | 2.11574074074074 | 24 |
LA Dodgers | 199.6 | 92 | 2.1695652173913 | 25 |
LA Angels | 173.8 | 80 | 2.1725 | 26 |
Washington | 181.2 | 82 | 2.20975609756098 | 27 |
Kansas City | 129.9 | 58 | 2.23965517241379 | 28 |
Baltimore | 127.6 | 47 | 2.71489361702128 | 29 |
San Francisco | 205.6 | 73 | 2.81643835616438 | 30 |